In commercial fishing, "by-catch" has come to mean any sealife that is unintentionally caught. Depending on the fishing or netting techniques used, this can include a wide variety of sealife - from non-commercial species to prohibited or endangered species to commercial species that do not have a lucrative enough sales value (known as "highgrading").
By-catch is typically discarded and that discarded percentage of the boat's total catch can range from 4% to a staggering 80%, depending on the prevailing regulations for a particular country's territorial waters. As an example, Norway has regulations in place that favor the lower percentages and generally induces fisherman to better utilize their catch commercially or use more effective netting techniques to reduce the overall level of by-catch.
However, the European Union (EU) has less restrictive regulations, allowing fisherman to dump enormous percentages of their catch - as much as 80% has been recorded (see video) - with very little chance of survival for the discarded animals. In fact, due to co-operative fishing rights, UE fisherman can fish in Norwegian waters, then sail back into UE waters and dump their by-catch!
Organizations like Oceana.org are pressuring EU governments to adopt regulations like Norway's but are getting resistance from the EU commercial fishing industry. The fact that Norway's regulations are effective and help support the conservation of commercially viable species, thereby protecting the longevity of the Norwegian fishing industry, seems to escape the EU's abilities of comprehension. According to Ricardo Aguilar, Oceana Europe's Research Director, "Wasting fishing resources is a global problem. However, the magnitude it reaches in European waters is unacceptable, especially when 88% of EU stocks are overfished." Read Oceana.org press release.
On August 6th, I posted a a status report on summer sea ice conditions in the Arctic and the possibility that it might be better than last year's all-time record low. Here's an update from the Associated Press:
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in nearly 30 years and with three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could wind up breaking last September's all-time record. Arctic ice melts in the summer and refreezes in the winter but more and more ice is being lost to the sea and not recovered in the winter. Ice reflects the sun's heat while the open ocean absorbs more heat and the melting accelerates warming in other parts of the world.
"We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point," said senior scientist Mark Serreze at the data center. The melting causes "Arctic amplification" where the warming up north is increased in a feedback mechanism and the effects spill southward in the autumn as more warm water releases more heat into the air, making the atmosphere warmer than normal. "Climate warming is coming larger and faster than the models are predicting," Serreze said.
The condition of the Arctic Circle is a perfect barometer for what lies ahead in southern climates. We must pay attention.
In making a case for conservation and protection of important predators, we must always stick to the facts, understanding the true role and behavior of the animal in question. In generating sympathy for the animal's plight, we must not succumb to the temptation to paint an alternative distorted image that decieves the public and does not do justice to the complexity and balance of Nature's eco-systems.
Tonight, Animal Planet is airing "The Grizzly Man Diaries" about Timothy Treadwell, the young man who spent many years closely observing Grizzly Bears in the wild and promoting these apex predators of the forest as benevolent creatures, communing with them on a quasi-spiritual level. In posturing these important animals outside of their role as predators, he and his girlfriend paid the ultimate price as they were attacked and killed by a bear who was probably on the hunt and whose natural predatory instincts kicked in.
I have seen this same sort of misrepresentation by some well-meaning but misguided shark advocates. We must not swing the pendulum from one extreme - as malevolent man-eaters - to another extreme - as innocent puppy dogs. This does a disservice to these predators and assumes that the public is unable to appreciate these animals for the critical role they play.
And it can put people in harm's way, people who have chosen to enter the natural domain of these animals with a misguided understanding of the role and behavior of an apex predator. In interacting with sharks, eco-tourism/shark diving operations have a responsibility to do so in a controlled environment. And the print and broadcast media have a responsibility to present these animals in their proper context. It is abundantly clear that the populations of many of our larger species of reef and pelagic sharks are being decimated in staggering proportions. But to combat that commercial slaughter, we must not resort to "humanizing" these animals. In a Los Angeles Times review of the Treadwell program, staff writer Mary McNamara wrote: "..it is impossible to walk away from "The Grizzly Man Diaries" without thinking about the place of humans in the natural world, of how we impose our definitions of love and friendship on creatures who may not be able to reciprocate and why we need to do so at all." The truth is, one, animals like large sharks and grizzly bears are magnificent, beautiful creatures worthy of our awe and respect. And two, they play a critical role in maintaining the health and balance of the natural ecosystems in which they exist. And three, they are apex predators - and because of that, if we interact with them, either deliberately or accidentally, we must understand their natural behavior and not unfairly "humanize" them. If we do not, we misrepresent them and ultimately betray their cause for survival.
Check your local TV listings for air dates of "The Grizzly Man Diaries."
Stepping on to dry land for a moment, there are other predators besides sharks that are being threatened. Tigers are certainly in that category - there are less than 5,000 tigers left in the wild. Much like the shark fishing/finning industry, there is a clandestine black market industry that feeds an Asian market for tiger parts - a market with a long cultural history, but one that can be changed with continued vigilance.
The future of the tiger rests in the efforts of governments to prohibit and enforce against illegal poaching, for international cooperation in curtailing illegal trafficking, and for conservation organizations to continue their efforts to educate the public to curtail demand. One of the great dilemmas faced by many endangered animals like tigers, mountain gorillas, and sharks is that as their numbers become more scarce their black market value increases, making the poacher more embolden and willing to defy the law.
WildAid is one of the leading organizations dedicated to ending the trade in endangered animals. They have an excellent video that covers the issue regarding tigers. Take a look.
Tigers, like sharks, are both beautiful predators and vital to the health of the ecosystems within which they live. Support WildAid's efforts to curb the tiger trade.
"The times, they are a-changing." There seems to be a subtle but growing shift in strategy among many conservation organizations. In the face of past regulations/prohibitions or designated protected areas for endangered animals that have often proven less successful due to lack of resources for effective enforcement, greater attention is being turned towards eco-tourism as a means of increasing public support and providing a more attractive economic model for government and commercial entities to endorse.
I have been honored to assist SharkDivers.com with providing consulting expertise for shark tourism and the film/television industry. As a marketing communications and media production professional, I look forward to the opportunity to advance the cause of responsible shark eco-tourism as a means of providing effective support to shark conservation.
As new strategies emerge, there will be challenges to address - ecological impact, potential behavioral changes, shifts in third world economies, tourist/diver impact, safety issues for both people and animals, and more. But shark tourism - carefully planned - holds great promise. It can generate enlightenment in people, preserve marine ecosystems that depend on their predators as vital members of the aquatic community, and it can provide economic proof that a living shark is infinitely more valuable than a dead one.
Dr. Susan Lark is an online entrepreneur in the beauty and skin care products industry. Her web site, www.drlark.com, offers a range of products. Of particular note is a moisturizer called Ocean Actives Deep Water Squalane. Its key active ingredient is squalane - derived from sharks, particularly deep water sharks. The company claims the squalane is procured from sharks taken as part of the orange roughy fishery. But a comparable substitute is available as a byproduct from olives.
Like many sharks, deep water sharks are very susceptiple to overfishing due to their slow reproductive rates. Not to mention the fact that the orange roughy fishing industry engages in very destructive techniques that damage the sea floor and ensare nearly anything in the path of the nets. And since there is a suitable substitute ingredient derived from olives, it makes little sense to add to the slaughter of deep water sharks and other marine life.
Oceana.org has set up a page in their web site where you can send Dr.Lark.com a loud and clear email (click here). Check it out and let's get one more commercial enterprise on the side of marine conservation.
When it comes to shark conservation, one of the concepts that I have always stressed is the need for an international, combined strategy that addresses both government/business (the suppliers) and demand (the consumer). Much of the demand for shark products, particularly fins, comes from Asian countries and so, while many western countries support anti-finning regulations, attention must be paid to alter the cultural mindset of the largest shark product market.
The Humane Society International is doing just that, developing relationships with other organizations that can have an impact on Asian society. A great step forward was accomplished recently with their efforts to get Taiwan's National Palace Museum to stop serving shark fin soup. (Read press release.) Congratulations to the Humane Society and their affiliate, the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) for their ongoing efforts to enlighten Asian peoples and cultural institutions to the tragic effects of commercial shark fishing/finning.
Since shark aquafarming is most likely a very remote prospect, then attention must be turned towards altering the basic demand for shark products. Working with the decision-makers is one important strategy, but you also have to get right to the source and eliminate demand.
With print and online media understandably choosing ocean images that are beautiful and visually striking, the readers/viewers are unfortunately presented with images that seem to imply that everything is okay, that the oceans are healthy. If you are an experienced diver, you know this is not the case and a more balanced portrait would be more in order.
The contest opened on World Ocean Day, June 8th, and continues through the end of September. To learn more, go to Seaweb.org web site or click here.
I recently posted a story about Tuna in the Mediterranean. Here's an interesting follow up in this week's TIME magazine. There is an article about the Bluefin Tuna found in the Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia (Click here to read article.). The tuna migrate through these waters to breed and because their migratory paths are predictable, their populations have been severely hunted, reduced to 10% of what they were in the 60s - all to meet the demands of the Japanese sushi/sashimi market. Okay, that's the bad news.
The good news is that one company, Clean Seas Tuna, lead by Hagen Stehr, is making progress in developing aquaculture techniques for tricking confined tuna into thinking they are in their happy mating grounds, enabling Clean Seas Tuna to gather fertile eggs for farming. The developed offspring could add to the levels of tuna currently being farmed in open water pens.
While Stehr has his skeptics, it is encouraging to see work continue in improving aquafarming techniques. To meet growing demand, advances will need to be made. Otherwise, many commercial species will continue to head towards eventual depletion.
P.S. - I'm always interested in what pops up in the general media, like TIME. It's an indication of what issues are being disseminated to the public at large. While we marine conservation advocates peruse our various web sites, blogs, and scientific sources, I also make a point of checking on publications as diverse as TIME and Fortune.
Kudos to the Coral Reef Alliance for posting a great video by Drew Wohl that highlights how coral reefs are impacted by man-made development. At Akumal, at the Yucatan Peninsula, expanding development is adversely affecting turtle breeding grounds and affecting the overall health of the reef due to sewage (whether treated or not) that causes an increase in algae and bacteria growth.
This is not a unique phenomenon. Supposedly processed sewage disposed at sea has been shown to have detrimental effects worldwide - from California to the Caribbean. The video the Coral Alliance posted is not all gloom and doom. It shows the benefits of marine protected areas, such as can be found in Cozumel, and how they can protect the health of the reef and, in so doing, support the tourist trade in a more environmentally sensible fashion.
The RTSea Blog was started in 2008 and now includes over 950 entries available for media or academic background research use, including observations on a wide range of topical issues and events involving the oceans, sharks, and nature in general. After a brief break in 2012-13, there will now be more posts forthcoming.
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In commercial fishing, "by-catch" has come to mean any sealife that is unintentionally caught. Depending on the fishing or netting techniques used, this can include a wide variety of sealife - from non-commercial species to prohibited or endangered species to commercial species that do not have a lucrative enough sales value (known as "highgrading").
